Thinking Globally

                                                                  

Image used with permission from wikipedia commons

I wanted to share a few thoughts about global thinking. We talk about the fact that we're part of global economy, that we have global networking, that we are all interconnected . . . but how many of us think globally? How many of us recognize the fact that we are part of something much bigger on a daily basis, and how many of us go through life with the mentality that our decisions could not only impact ourselves and those close to us, but also people all around the world?

Instead, it is far more common for us to believe that the entire world revolves around us: our nation, our problems, our culture, our friends, our family. Whatever. Whether we like to admit it or not, we're all guilty of this "me-and-my-life-centric" mentality. We walk through life as though our culture and our way of thinking is the only one in the world. How often do we give someone a second look simply because they look like a foreigner? What do we think about these people immediately when we see them?

Here at the University of Northern Iowa in Educational Technology and Design we devote a lot of focus to creating a diverse and multi-faceted program of education that will encompass all cultures, races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, special needs, etc. The classroom is no place for bias or exclusion. It is a place to learn, and that learning must come through a variety of different avenues to meet every student's learning needs. This can seem like an impossibly daunting task, and, indeed, it will probably be almost impossible to meet every single student's needs fully. But as teachers, our foremost responsibility is not to our comfort zones, our conventional ways of doing things, or our preferences, but to our students. Let's keep this in the forefront of our minds as we create our curriculums, plan our lessons, and dream of our future classrooms.

And reach out. This is another thing stressed in Educational Technology and Design. We need to go beyond our classrooms and our schools. It can become so easy to get stuck in a pattern. Sometimes we just need a fresh perspective. It can be as simple as collaborating with another teacher in your building, or doing a group project with a teacher in a nearby school district. But get outside your own classroom. I, personally, come from a small Iowa town where there isn't a huge amount of diversity. Sometimes, no matter how much we may try to think globally, it can be impossible to do if all we know is the small world we grew up in. Try connecting with a teacher in another state, or even one from across the world. I have been amazed to see how many resources are available for teachers to connect with other teachers. Look for those resources and take advantage of them. We are preparing our students for an interconnected world, so let's do it through interconnected classrooms.